AFP/Donetsk
Scores of bodies that had been gathered at the main Ukraine crash site of Malaysian plane MH17 have been removed, an AFP reporter on the scene said on Sunday.
Pro-Russian rebels who had been guarding the impact site also appeared to have left, with about a dozen stretchers, paper masks and plastic gloves abandoned at the scene.
Poles marking locations where bodies had been found in the field have also been removed.
Local emergency crews, who were also absent from the site Sunday, declined comment when contacted by telephone but said that the separatists would be releasing an official statement later.
European security body OSCE said Saturday evening that 55 body bags and 55 markings indicating human remains were seen at the site.
Rebels to 'guarantee safety' of crash site monitors if Kiev argees truce
AFP/Donetsk
A top Ukrainian rebel leader said on Sunday that the pro-Russian fighters will guarantee the safety of international monitors at the Malaysian jet's crash site if Kiev agrees to a truce.
"We declare that we will guarantee the safety of international experts on the scene as soon as Kiev concludes a ceasefire agreement," the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's deputy premier Andrei Purgin said in a statement.
He urged Kiev to "immediately conclude such an agreement" with the rebels.
Failure to do so would give the impression that the government is made up of "dangerous lunatics, bloodthirsty maniacs (who are) dangerous not only for the residents of Donbass but also for the world community", Purgin warned.
Purgin's statement came as the international community piled pressure on Russia to get the Moscow-backed rebels to grant investigators full access to the crash site of the Malaysian MH17 jet.
